Chapter 559

Chapter 411: Choice

North of the Conquer Sea, Navaha.

In a dimly lit room, a woman named Garcia sat on a single sofa, listening intently to the words of her subordinate. Worried about the presence of the church fleet in the port, she had specifically sent someone to find out the purpose of the church coming to Navaha. However, the result was quite unexpected.

“Are you saying… there are investigators from the Tribunal rushing over? The church is gathering people here?”

With a solemn expression, Garcia said to the young man in front of her, who replied with certainty.

“Yes! Earlier, Barbo and I were searching for dream targets outside the church. Barbo chose a nun wearing white, and I picked an officer. In his dream, I asked him why the church fleet was still docked at the port, and he replied that they were waiting for investigators coming from Trua. Just as I was about to ask more details, Barbo let out a scream that woke me up. I immediately ran back to avoid being seen by the people in the church.”

“You know, the church won’t send investigators unless there’s evidence of heresy or heretical activities. If they’re coming here, it means we’ve been exposed!”

The young man said nervously, and after hearing this, Garcia fell silent for a moment before exhaling deeply and continuing.

“Alright, I understand the general situation. You can leave now.”

“Yes…”

Responding to Garcia’s words, the young man stepped back after calming his tense expression. Shortly after, he left the room. After the young man left, Garcia turned to look at the side, where Gomez stood nearby with a serious face.

“Gomez… Do you think the church has really detected us?” Garcia asked Gomez, who responded with a worried tone.

“From the information Barbo and the others gathered tonight… It seems the church has indeed caught onto us. According to their traditions, if they send investigators to a place, it means they consider that place to have heretical issues. Besides us, there are no other hidden forces in all of Navaha…”

Gomez muttered anxiously, considering that the church fleet belonged to the Knights Order, he initially thought they might not have been exposed. But now that investigators were being sent, such thoughts made no sense.

“Hmph… Given the current situation, it’s clear we’ve been exposed. I never thought our efforts to hide would end up failing. I wonder how much those deities know about us…”

Garcia snorted and rubbed her forehead, looking anxious. Meanwhile, Gomez pondered and spoke.

“So far, those deities seem to have noticed us, but their understanding isn’t too deep. Otherwise, they would have come knocking on our door directly instead of sending investigators…

“I believe there must be some mistake in our concealment measures, leading those deities to notice something off. They then immediately alerted the investigators to come investigate. They might already know who we are and what abilities we possess, so they’re on guard against dream traps. I suspect Barbo died because he encountered their defenses. The nun he targeted could be an important figure among those deities.”

Gomez calmly analyzed, and after hearing this, Garcia paused, her anxiety growing.

“In that case… Those deities might have only come here as regular visitors, but during this process, they somehow discovered us. Now, they’re sending investigators to further investigate us… d*mn, what went wrong!”

Garcia clenched her teeth, and Gomez continued gravely.

“Madam Garcia, our immediate priority is to figure out how to deal with the investigators from Trua. Although the deities in the port might not be able to do much right now, once the investigators arrive, everything will change. They specialize in dealing with secretive societies like ours!”

“Madam Garcia… I suggest we evacuate Navaha while the investigators haven’t arrived yet!”

Gomez suggested, and Garcia looked coldly at him before speaking directly.

“Evacuate? Are you joking, Gomez? Yes, we can evacuate, but don’t forget, ‘Pupa’ cannot be evacuated. If we all leave and leave ‘Pupa’ behind in Navaha, it’s as good as handing it over to the deities’ investigators! All our hard work over the years would be wasted!”

Garcia sternly told Gomez, and Gomez immediately responded.

“Yes… If we evacuate now, it would mean abandoning ‘Pupa.’ But Madam Garcia, if the investigators arrive, combined with the knights in the port, they will form an overwhelming force that we can’t resist. We won’t be able to protect ‘Pupa,’ and if we try to hold on, the outcome will be our destruction along with ‘Pupa.'”

Gomez urgently explained, hoping Garcia would agree to evacuate before the investigators arrived. After listening to Gomez, Garcia did not respond immediately but remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.

“No… We can’t abandon ‘Pupa’…”

“Not abandoning… But Madam Garcia, if we don’t abandon…”

“If we don’t abandon, we have ways to protect ‘Pupa’… and even ourselves…”

With a serious expression, Garcia said to Gomez, who was slightly stunned and then asked.

“Madam Garcia, what do you mean?”

“Gomez, I’ve decided. I’m going to accelerate ‘Pupa’s’ growth and hatch it immediately. If the contents inside can break free early, not only can we escape safely, but we won’t have to worry about the deities in the port either…”

Garcia said seriously to Gomez, who was stunned for a moment before responding slowly.

“Accelerating ‘Pupa’s’ hatching? Madam Garcia, this carries significant risks. Even if we succeed in accelerating it, the results of breaking it out prematurely will be uncontrollable… Are we really going to do this?”

“Of course… For both us and the entire society, ‘Pupa’ is absolutely non-negotiable. Rather than giving it to those deities and having it destroyed, we should harvest its results now… Regardless of what those results may become…”

Garcia said solemnly to Gomez, her expression showing a desperate resolve. Seeing this, Gomez nodded silently.

“Alright… Then we need to act quickly. We must complete the acceleration before the investigators arrive. I’m not sure if ‘Pupa’ can support this acceleration with the number of dream cocoons it currently holds…”

Gomez sighed, knowing they didn’t know when the investigators would arrive, so the acceleration work needed to start immediately.

…

Night in Navaha, the port filled with many church ships.

Somewhere in the port, under bright streetlights, a group of men in Knights Order uniforms stood. The commanding officer, Jorde, looked grave at the scene in front of him.

On the ground in front of Jorde lay a stretcher with a male corpse, bl**d oozing from seven orifices, his face filled with terror. His eyes, full of fear, stared upward, as if telling an unimaginable horror.

“Have we verified his identity yet?”

After looking at the body, Jorde asked, and his deputy answered immediately.

“My Lord, we have asked the residents around the church to identify him, but no one knows him. So his specific identity remains unknown.”

“What we do know is that he is definitely not an ordinary person. We found a sigil with the meaning of ‘Shadow’ on him, so he must be involved in something secret.”

The deputy said seriously, and after hearing this, Jorde’s expression became even more solemn.

“A suspected ‘Shadow’ individual suddenly died with bl**d oozing from seven orifices right next to the church… This is the first time I’ve seen such a thing in all my years at sea…”

Jorde said as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. His deputy said seriously,

“My Lord, could this guy be a remnant of the Abyss Cult in this city, searching for news and looking for revenge?”

“I don’t think so. People related to the Abyss Cult generally work in maritime professions and spend most of their time at sea. This guy’s skin shows he’s not often at sea. Also, Abyss Cult members usually have water sigils, but this guy doesn’t. Instead, he has obscure ‘Shadow’ sigils, which doesn’t fit the usual pattern…”

Jorde said after puffing smoke, and his deputy responded surprisingly.

“Not the Abyss Cult… Then where does this guy come from? Why did he d*e so suddenly?”

“I don’t know, but the one thing we do know is that this small town we randomly chose for docking isn’t as simple as it looks…

“It seems we’ll have more problems to handle now.”

Jorde muttered, turning to look at the dark town. The sudden d*ath of this man had already alerted him to the underlying issues in this ordinary small town.

“When will the Tribunal’s people arrive?”

Jorde asked his deputy, who immediately replied,

“According to the message from Trua this evening, the investigators have just set out and are expected to reach here in two days.”

“Two more days? I hope they get here sooner. Right now… there’s more than just the Abyss Cult that needs their attention.”

Jorde said slowly, already judging that there was a secretive organization in Navaha unrelated to the Abyss Cult. He needed to wait for the investigators to arrive and hand over all the clues. With this sudden development, he could foresee the investigators’ busy schedule ahead.

…

Night in Navaha, a high-end hotel.

Dorothy, who had just bathed, sat by a warm fireplace. She had just helped Vania ward off threats in her dreams and was reflecting on what had happened. She hadn’t expected this ordinary seaside town to actually harbor another secretive society.

“I felt something was off about this city earlier, but I never imagined it would hide a society capable of invading dreams, especially the ‘Shadow’ society.”

“These guys suddenly invaded Vania’s dream, constantly searching for information about the church. It seems they were intimidated by the sudden arrival of the church fleet. The existence of the fleet made them feel uneasy, so they wanted to confirm the church’s intentions through dream traps. Unfortunately, they made a mistake in selecting their target…”

Dorothy mused, realizing the reason why the psychiatric hospital suddenly wanted to change its sign was to avoid the church noticing the city’s three psychiatric hospitals.

“Based on the current situation, the Hypersomnia and psychiatric hospitals in Navaha are all connected to this society. Huh… I keep stumbling upon these societies. Is there something special about me?”

Dorothy thought sarcastically, though she wasn’t too annoyed by it. She was currently short on spirituality and needed contributions from benevolent societies. This presented an opportunity.

“Now that the church fleet is still docked in the port, I have a nearby target to report. Using the church’s power, dealing with this society shouldn’t be difficult.”

“I just need to find these guys and lead the church to them. When those guys clash with the church, I can take advantage of the chaos.”

Sitting by the fireplace, Dorothy smiled as she thought. She hadn’t encountered such a situation in a while. Once the base was found and reported successfully, she could profit from the chaos, just as she had done before.

“The church fleet won’t stay in the port for long, so I need to act quickly. The psychiatric hospital is the most direct clue. I’ll start from there tomorrow.”

Dorothy rubbed her hands together, thinking she should return to her role as a concerned citizen.

“The church fleet won’t stay in the port for long, so I need to act fast. The psychiatric hospital is the most direct clue. I’ll start from there tomorrow.”